Nike

Nike and Better Half have devoted more than half a decade to collaborating and partnering across various initiatives and modalities. With a unique focus on sustainable efforts, we have worked across the purpose, sustainability, SNKRS, and Jordan divisions. Each joint effort has culminated in work that serves a deeper and larger purpose: raising climate awareness, embracing sustainable materials, facilitating purpose-led conversations, and inspiring and igniting change.

One of our initial projects with the Sustainability team was centered on launching their innovative material, Flyleather. These shoes are crafted to look, feel, and perform like traditional leather but are made from a combination of recycled leather fiber and sustainably processed synthetic materials. Artist Steven Harrington became the first artist to collaborate with this material. As a leader in the contemporary California psych-pop art movement, his optimistic, nature-centric subjects felt like the perfect visuals to adorn Nike’s first pair of Flyleather shoes. Nike x Steven Harrington made its debut on Earth Day 2019.

Better Half’s Will Mayer directed and produced a series of films shedding light on the sustainability journey of Nike products, featuring a diverse collection of athletes. The aim was to simplify and humanize Nike’s complex, ethical supply chain. The full sustainability narrative follows a Nike shoe from its conceptualization at Nike to its creation in factories and its enduring life adorned and celebrated by world-class athletes.

Better Half expanded Nike’s first livestream studio and launched its most-watched stream to date. The virtual livestream was held to outline Nike’s 2025 Purpose commitments and celebrate "50 Years of Moving the World Forward Through Sport." The dialogue addressed tangible gains across Nike’s people, planet, and play pillars as the company approaches its 50th anniversary this spring. The event also provided a glimpse into executives’ personal trials (the dreaded Zoom meeting crashed by a doorbell or dog) and triumphs navigating a new normal (returning to the office).

To celebrate the forthcoming release of its 2025 impact report, Nike gathered its executive team for an evening of discussion: on its history, its practices, its impact, and its future.